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The recent Report of the
Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Kosovo is
subtitled: "As Seen, as Told". The part of the
report covering the mayhem that went on during the NATO
bombing, between March 24 and June 10, is "as
told" -- to be specific, "as told" by
ethnic Albanians refugees.

The second part deals with events in Kosovo since NATO occupied the
province. This part is not simply "as told" but
"as seen" by the many Western observers who
flooded back into Kosovo with the occupation armies of
KFOR.

The difference between things "told" and
things "seen" is highly significant.

As the OSCE report confirms, the violence in Kosovo escalated
dramatically when the NATO air strikes began on March 24.
Information about the 78-day period of NATO bombing comes
essentially from 2,764 interviews with refugees in
Albania and Macedonia. These "victim and witness
statements" were made according to "refugee
interview forms" prepared precisely with the aim of
collecting evidence _against Serbian leaders_ for the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY). In short, the aim of the interviews was not to
get a full understanding of a complex situation, or to
gather evidence on all the crimes that may have been
committed by all sides during a period when air raids and
civil war broke down law and order, but solely to gather
statements that could be used against Belgrade.

As was to be expected, the ethnic Albanian refugees told their
Western interviewers what they wanted to hear.

Several of the most harrowing
tales told by
ethnic Albanians about their Serb adversaries have turned
out to be totally false: notably the reports of thousands
of bodies thrown into the Trepca mines, among others. It
is reasonable to suspect that other stories were also
untrue.

Raimonda, the young Albanian
woman who claimed
to be killing Serbs to avenge the ghastly murder of her
little sister, turned out to have made up the whole story
for the benefit of the Western TV journalist looking for
real-life drama. Later, her little sister was found to be
alive, well and unharmed. The girl's relatives shrugged
this off: "If her little lie helped the Albanian
cause, that's just fine", her father reportedly
commented. It is unlikely that this attitude is unique or
even rare.

There were many reasons for ethnic Albanians to flee Kosovo
during the air strikes: fear of violent reprisals by
infuriated Serbs who blamed them for the NATO attack,
expulsion by Serb security forces clearing the border
area in preparation for an expected invasion from
Albania, fear of the air raids, fear of the Kosovo
Liberation Army, or even -- and this is the reason given
by Cedomir Prlincevic, head of the Pristina Jewish
community -- orders from KLA leaders to leave in order to
advance the cause. All these reasons may have contributed
to the mass exodus. (See note # 2 at end)

However, the only explanation that Western interviewers wanted to hear
was also the only explanation that could improve a
refugee's standing with the ever more powerful KLA:
Serbian atrocities.

What really happened during the bombing remains uncertain.
The powers in control of the terrain -- NATO and the KLA
-- are strongly motivated to support the worst possible
version of Serb behavior. Even so, no material evidence
has been found yet for mass killings.

On the other hand, the daily
persecution of
non-Albanians in Kosovo since the NATO-led KFOR took over
the province is beyond doubt. The OSCE report makes this
quite clear. The murders and ethnic cleansing of Serbs
and Roma (gypsies) are going on day after day right under
the eyes of the Western military forces.

Kosovo is a place where the
alienation and
fear between two communities was fed for years by lies,
rumors and false accusations. Serbs genuinely feared
Albanians, and Albanians genuinely feared Serbs, often on
the basis of wild rumor. The first thing outside
mediators should have done was to sponsor a patient,
serious and fair effort to establish the truth. On the
contrary, by endorsing every accusation against Serbs,
and ignoring crimes against Serbs, the United States and
its NATO allies have given carte blanche to violence
against them. Ethnic Albanian children are growing up in
the belief that nobody really blames them for hunting
down elderly "Skrinje" (the ethnic slur for
Serbs) and beating them to death.

And who is most to blame? War is the worst evil. By bringing war
to Kosovo, NATO brought out the worst in a certain number
of Serbs, and the worst in a certain number of Albanians.
The people of Kosovo have been guinea pigs in a macabre
experiment: how do people react when they are bombed? How
do they react when they are told that the bombing is to
detach part of their country? How do they react when they
are told the bombing is on their behalf? The screeching
noise, the terrifying explosions, the fires, the
destruction are administered from a safe distance. Then
the observers go in and take notes.

Most people in Kosovo --
including ethnic
Albanians -- were safer under Serbian rule than they are
now. Kosovo is more than ever a dangerous place, a land
of hatred.

But there is one little oasis of safety: Camp Bondsteel. The biggest
overseas United States base since Vietnam has been built
in Kosovo. U.S. armed forces personnel are secure in
Kosovo. The citizens are not.